Lucas, Richard Clement (1846 - 1915)
by
 
Royal College of Surgeons of England

Asset Name
E004350 - Lucas, Richard Clement (1846 - 1915)

Title
Lucas, Richard Clement (1846 - 1915)

Author
Royal College of Surgeons of England

Identifier
RCS: E004350

Publisher
London : Royal College of Surgeons of England

Publication Date
2013-08-21

Subject
Medical Obituaries

Description
Obituary for Lucas, Richard Clement (1846 - 1915), Fellow of the Royal College of Surgeons of England.

Language
English

Source
Plarr's Lives of the Fellows

Full Name
Lucas, Richard Clement

Date of Birth
16 April 1846

Date of Death
30 June 1915

Place of Death
Midhurst, Sussex

Occupation
General surgeon

Titles/Qualifications
MRCS Jan 21st 1868
 
FRCS June 8th 1871
 
MB Lond (Gold Medal) 1871
 
BS 1873
 
LRCP Lond 1868

Details
Born on April 16th, 1846, the son of William Lucas, of Midhurst, Sussex. He was educated at Queenwood College, Stockbridge, Hampshire, and in 1868 entered as a student at Guy's Hospital, which he served with high distinction for well-nigh half a century. In 1872 he became Assistant Demonstrator of Anatomy and in 1874 Senior Demonstrator, was elected Assistant Surgeon to the hospital in 1875, and was appointed Demonstrator of Practical Surgery in 1877. In 1888 he became full Surgeon, and retired as Consulting Surgeon in 1906. He was Lecturer on Anatomy from 1888-1900, and later became Lecturer on Surgery, holding the latter post from 1900-1906. From 1880 renal surgery was stirring in surgeons' minds; and apart from the therapeutic difficulties that surrounded it, the then ungauged anatomical ones that presented themselves had a charm for Lucas. For some time he paid special attention to the surgery of the kidney, and early achieved the success, of which he was proud to his latest days, of removing a kidney for the first time, with good result, in Guy's. Lucas had been educated in the older traditions of Guy's and had been dresser to Edward Cock (qv). No doubt owing to his having dressed for Cock, he was - with F Durham (qv) - the great exponent at Guy's of Cock's perineal puncture for impermeable urethral stricture with retention; and it would be difficult to say which of these operators was the more adept in its performance. Mr Golding-Bird says he never knew Lucas to fail in the first attempt to reach the membranous urethra; and though the operation is now supplanted by the suprapubic, it was the means of saving much suffering and many a life when performed by such a master. Lucas must certainly be classed as one of the highly skilled surgeons of Guy's in his day. He was a staunch supporter of the Hunterian Society, and served as its President in 1888-1890. Fond of the open air, as became one born to the country life, Lucas shot and rode to hounds, always setting apart in the hunting season one day weekly for a run with Lord Leconsfield's pack. He was the active President of the students' sports club at Guy's, and up to the time of his last illness was the embodiment of energy. Lucas married late in life, but his wife, a daughter of Surgeon General Saville Marriott Pelly, CB (qv), predeceased him. There were two sons of the marriage, who survived him. He died at his country house, Oaklands, Midhurst, on June 30th, 1915. There is a portrait of him in the *Guy's Hospital Gazette* (1897, xi, 447). Lucas took an active part in the affairs of the Royal College of Surgeons. He was an Examiner in Anatomy for the Conjoint Board (Second Examination) from 1892, as well as for the University of London; was a Member of Council from 1901-1914, and served as Vice-President from 1909-1911. In 1911 he was Bradshaw Lecturer. Publications: *Surgical Diseases of the Kidneys and the Operations for their Relief*, 1888. *The Bradshaw Lecture on Some Points in Heredity* (1911), 8vo, illustrated, London, 1912. An account of this interesting lecture is published in the *Lancet*, 1911, ii, 1755. He also contributed many papers to *Guy's Hosp Rep*.

Sources
*Lancet*, 1915, ii, 96
 
*Brit Med Jour*, 1915, ii, 77
 
*Guy's Hosp Gaz*, 1915, xxix, 29

Rights
Copyright (c) The Royal College of Surgeons of England

Collection
Plarr's Lives of the Fellows

Format
Obituary

Format
Asset

Asset Path
Root/Lives of the Fellows/E004000-E004999/E004300-E004399

URL for File
376533

Media Type
Unknown